Wales in Summer

This weekend we went to Wales. Ann had invited us over for the weekend to do some sight seeing, see her new house and meet up with some fellow kiwis from the Office of National Statistics. We drove over on Saturday morning and enjoyed driving over the bridge as visibility was a bit better than last time and we could see some of the river below and the other bridge. We continue to be amused by the toll on the bridge which is £5.10 and so everyone hands over notes and the guy on the toll has to give us all change! Anyway, 10 pence does add up with the number of cars that travel over the bridge so it is probably worth it from the cost perspective.

Anne has a lovely little place in Newport. A very similar design to the house we are living in but quite a bit bigger. She has a little outdoor area and had bought some tables and chairs for us to sit out in. So, we lunched outside and enjoyed the sunshine. Over here many of the rental properties have everything including kitchen utensils and so you don’t need to pay a lot to set yourself up. She has nice furniture and a very comfy bed!! Anne suggested we explore a castle so on the way to one we found another and never did get to our original destination. Caerphilly Castle was crowded as it was the day of the 'Big cheese' festival – hundreds of people out enjoying the sunshine after all that rain. The castle is a ruin and fascinating and stood in the middle of a fair ground with food stalls and ferris wheels, archery displays and people in period costume. The tower is competing with the Leaning Tower of Pisa for ‘how far can I lean before I fall over’ award as the ground is clearly subsiding under it. In NZ it wouldn’t have survived with earthquakes but actually it looked as though it would continue to lean for many years longer. On the quieter side of the castle people were fishing in the muddy moat and I continue to wonder if they eat what they catch (if indeed they catch anything)– one day I will ask. I have just realised that we took no photos of the crowd, intent on taking photos of the castle with as fewer people as possible in it. Pity really because you would have seen a crowd of English enjoying themselves on a summers day.
After picking up Lyn (another kiwi statistician) from the railway station we headed down to Swansea – apparently a lovely little seaside resort – but the rain began once again and it hid all vistas of the scenery, sand and sea. We had dinner in a pub in Mumbles (suburb of Swansea), hoped that the rain would stop so we could walk along the wharves but it didn’t – so Harry and I decided it is on our ‘must go back there on a fine day’ list. It isn't too far away from Bristol so could easily be a day trip.
I have recommended to Anne that she starts a bed and breakfast especially for kiwis but I don’t think she is going to oblige. After a substantial breakfast I got a lovely phone call from my Mum, Mike, Sharon and Becks and had a long chat to them. After that we met up with Elspeth and Keith who live in a cottage in Wales (photo of their little house without Elspeth and Keith - they seemed to escape our camera lens - theres always another time!!) and went for a lovely wander up a canal not far from where they live. The path was muddy, but it was so much fun walking along the scenic route, around puddles and squelchy mud. At one point a number of canal boats were lined up waiting for someone with chain saws to come and remove a branch from the canal. Went into the oldest pub in Wales 'the Skirrid' for lunch. We sat outside oblivous to our muddy clothes and shoes and enjoyed dinner and dessert with a large group of Australians. Keith mentioned that the pub used to be the court house and in the cellar prisoners waited while they were sentenced. After lunch I went and saw the beam where people were actually hung inside the building. It has certainly made me think about the not so romantic side of our history - and even though the food was nice I think it would take quite something to get me to eat in that pub again!!

Up the road from Elspeth and Keith’s is a little historic church built hundreds of years ago. Lovely intricate wood work in the ‘Screen of Jerome’ which separated the ‘sacred’ part of the church from the less sacred. A little terrier dog followed us up the road and his legs and tummy were covered in mud. Outside the gravestones were sitting at various slopes and where they had fallen the parishioners have made a footpath around the church.
On the way home we saw a sign that said Christchurch and another that said 'Roman Ruins'. We stopped in Christchurch and sat looking over Newport with a cup of tea and muffin and then went to the ruins. I said to Harry wouldn't it be funny if they were the same ones that we saw last time - and guess what - our only excuse is that we came from a different direction!! We did see the barrack house this time which we missed last time so it was worth the trip. I've put a photo in it cos in one of those barracks 100 men lived. Outside were big round ovens and a toilet block with running water.
At work today a girl commented to another ‘you have a tiefling’. We both looked at her as we had no idea what she was talking about. It apparently means ‘thread’ that usually hangs down. She told us some other Cornish sayings such as ‘flasket’ which is a washing basket and a ‘frail’ which is a cloth shopping bag. Hasn't English changed over the years?
This lunchtime Harry and I went to a historic house built in the 1700's. The Red Lodge has had a number of renovations but the most beautiful thing is the huge intricately carved oak panels that went from floor to ceiling.

Sunday further mount stories and St Ives

After another hearty English breakfast we caught a boat to St Michaels as this time it was isolated by the tide. Caramello enjoyed steering the boat to the amusement of the other passengers and he managed to keep us on course. Our first surprise was that we were allowed in free – thanks to our friends Heather and John who gave us a membership to the NZ Historic Places trust as a goodbye gift (so if you are stuck for ideas for a friend going overseas that is a great bon voyage gift). We wandered up the steep steps and path to the top and it was as fascinating as it promised to be. From the top we could see the pathway we walked across the day before (I thought it would be only a inches deep but infact it was quite a lot of deeper). The original castle had been destroyed in the 1200’s by an earthquake and then rebuilt not long after that. Inside the castle had been decorated in 1800 style (I was expecting stone walls like the Tower of London or Edinburgh castle but it wasn’t like that at all) – more like a museum really. There was a little church and a lovely hillside garden (which you weren’t allowed into so could only admire from the top of the castle). It rained (poured actually) on the way down and we sheltered in a shop that sold stuffed toys including ‘Mr and Mrs Cornish Pasty’. Saw a video which gave us a brief history of the monastery and then found Queen Victoria’s footprint – her first step onto the Mount when she came with her husband to be – Edward. I could just imagine her little foot in a dainty shoe and had to compare it with my not so dainty feet and walking shoes!!
On to St Ives – does that sound something like a nursery rhyme? We drove down a narrow street into the town and met swarms (yes I mean swarms) of people coming towards us. We couldn’t believe that cars were allowed down there with so many people but we weren’t the only one caught in the pedestrian jam so we crawled our way through, breathed a sigh of relief and went over the hill to the beach. Had a picnic and wandered up the hill to see a little chapel (each week of the month it had a different denominational service eg 1st week Anglican, 2nd Presbyterian etc). Had our first paddle in the Atlantic and possibly our last as it was like sticking our feet in ice cold water which didn’t get any warmer as we walked along. No wonder everyone was in wet suits. It was lovely to see people enjoying the beach. It is quite different here as people come really prepared with wind breaks and chairs and little tents – we thought probably because they aren’t lucky enough to live close enough to the beaches all the time and so come for the day or a holiday.
Monday was another work day – the highlight was us in the supermarket when I took a melon off the top shelf, dropped it on a tray laden with mangoes and watched as they rolled to all corners (well almost) of the shop.

Saturday at Marazion and Lands End

Our drive to Penzance took longer than expected (have you heard that before?). We decided to take the scenic route, but will reconsider doing this again, as we seem to get caught up in all the Saturday shopping in every little town. We passed lots of lovely little towns, pubs and enjoyed ourselves despite the traffic. Saw a ramshackle old thatched cottage which looked a bit sad – there aren’t many of them around and it was a novel one because it was large and roundish. At one stage we met a car coming towards us down a narrow country lane. We had no chance of passing so we reversed and so did they – until we found a suitable passing space and then discovered we couldn’t see each other. We waited and waited and then went forward and met in exactly the same spot – ‘shall we dance’ comes to mind. We laughed but he wasn't amused and so when he reversed back we followed him like an errant schoolboy until we came to a place where we could pass.
We arrived in Marazion where St Michaels Mount looks protectively over the bay. At low tide you can walk on a cobbled path across to the island and at high tide you can go by boat. We timed our arrival for low tide, enjoying the novelty of the sea parting to let the travellers through. We didn’t realise that the castle was closed on Saturdays and you could only go around the outsides of the buildings near the harbour. So, we took lots of photos and then walked back. The castle has been gifted to the National Trust by the St Aubyn family that has owned it for a couple of centuries (after it stopped being a monastery and fortress). It looked to me as though they tolerated visitors rather than encouraged them as there were no signs to the ferry, little information about the castle like its opening hours and history etc. There were however some gift shops and cafes and an ice cream shop (but closed on Saturdays). Anyway, us kiwis are fairly stubborn and we decided to persevere and come back on Sunday.
While we waited the 18 hours for the castle to open we went to Land’s End. After being told ‘there wasn’t much there’ we were delighted with the rocks, cliffs, sea breeze and sunshine. We wandered around for ages and part of me regretted that we didn’t have all day to explore the area. The ruggedness was emphasised by a old wreck stuck below us on the rocks. Some of the hills were covered in grass, others in bright purple and orange heather, and others in dwarf gorse (yes it is rather a pretty little ground cover). The area reminded me a little of Castle Point and a little of Punakaiki with its drop down to the sea. At the tip of Lands End is a commercial building with some shops and amusements (eg Dr Who exhibition, sea rescue), which didn’t quite seem appropriate in a wonderful geographical area.
On the way back we chose the coastal route – narrow windy roads without a view of the coast because of the high hedges flanking each side. Anyway, we did wander down some dead end streets and found some other little gems. Harry stopped the car without any prompting from me to take a photo of the row of hydrangeas (aren’t they the most fabulous flower). We found the Minack Theatre – a modern outdoor theatre built into the rocks – I could imagine watching a play there with the sea as a backdrop. We drove on to Penzance and had fish and chips (yes I know I said no more but just one more try to have some reasonable ones - they weren’t too bad) sitting on the wharf looking at the boats. It was so like Wellington on a calm day with the boats bobbing up and down, seagulls squawking and people wandering around enjoying the summers evening and I realised how much I miss everyone.

Friday and job interview and Okehampton

Friday started with a job interview. It was wet and after catching two buses I was just congratulating myself that I had remained reasonably dry when about 50 metres from the building I got splashed (there was a high fence on one side of the footpath and unfortunately a huge puddle on the other). The first car went through with a moderate splash but the following three played a fun game 'Who can get Denise the wettest?'. I arrived at the interview very wet and occupied myself for the first 10 minutes in front of the hand drier in the Ladies. I've always preferred paper towels but promise never to complain again. I was pleased I had not been passed by a double decker bus or I would have been drying more than my skirt. Anyway, one hour to prepare a presentation on 'ways to fix a declining company', 60 minutes of presenting it and answering questions, and another 60 minutes preparing an internal document to encourage managers to meet targets and performance measures left me exhausted. Then I had lunch with the panel and the other candidate. (Two couldn't come on the day - or we would have had that group exercise where we all sit around and discuss things - presumably with the panel watching on and making notes about our ability to work in a team and lead). If I get through all that the job should be interesting working mainly on meeting performance targets for the bus and truck industry. Harry has also applied for jobs there so we just might be working in the same building. He has been offered one job but decided not to take it as it is going back into being a motor mechanic and he has decided that he would prefer to deliver training. But it is great the opportunities are arising.
We then drove to Okehampton (or as the locals called it Sokehampton - could it be because it rains a bit?). It was relatively dry and after we found our digs ( big old home built in 1901 - a bit run down but quite lovely - with ornate carpets and wall papers) we walked into town. The round house is an old 1700 toll gate (there were 4 toll buildings which stage coaches couldn't pass without paying to get into the centre). Had a nice pub meal in a pub with drooping ceilings and heavy dark beams and went for a walk around the town and through a park (which could have been anywhere in NZ - creek, ferns, greenery - it was lovely). We got some money out of the machine and were given a number of new £20 notes (did you know they put George Washington on them - only kidding but if you fell for it you are as gullible as I am) - it was actually Adam Smith - well they do look alike - big noses and wearing wigs!!
More photos to come when we can download them at home.